links for 2009-09-25

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“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth,” wrote Augustine, “the heavens … animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to … from reason and experience … Now, it is a disgraceful and evil thing for a non-believer to hear a Christian … talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation … the shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but [that] … the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.” To the devoutly religious Augustine, belief had to fit the facts, not the other way around.
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